Secret Stairs of June

So here's to a hot month with good friends dedicated to exploring our fair city. I know this post comes late, but it combines two different outings into one, so the reader has more photos to enjoy.

 

 If there is one thing ingrained into my mind about this walk months later is... "sweating". One time prior we attempted this loop & took a wrong turn, never completing our true objective. This time we were determined to have success.

With careful navigation we made it up to the numerous steps & onto the upper reaches of this thin mountain neighborhood.

 Curving slowly back down, we made sure to double check at each switchback turn to come out with a full work out on this trip.

The second adventure was an old walk with an old friend, for the first time. My friend Keith drove up from San Diego to take some photos & catch up on life.

We dove into the Alta Loma Terrace walk b/c it truly is one of the top five in the book. This was the fourth time walking the long shaded corridors & marveling at the 1930s elevator that accesses the neighborhood. This time was different b/c someone had photocopied & blown up the walk we were on!! (photo above)

After the standard walk we ventured across the street & circled Whitely Terrace for a bit more exploring. This was a really unique neighborhood with steep staircases. The photo below is looking at Alta Loma Terrace from Whitely Terrace. One of the more beautiful views in the cluster of Hollywood.

Secret Stairs - Alta Loma Terrace Again

Many of the recent posts on the blog have been chronicles of the adventures had while searching out new neighborhoods in Los Angeles via the book Secret Staircases of LA.



However, this time was unique b/c the people who gave me the book for Christmas last year got to finally join us on a hike, my Mom & Dad.



After about thirteen or so missions into the hills, we decided that the most unique neighborhood we've seen yet was Alta Loma Terrace in Hollywood. Tucked away behind the Hollywood Bowl, this neighborhood is a walk only with no access to cars.



Started in the 1920's, this neighborhood in the hills relies on a private elevator shaft (above), that takes residents from the lower garages, built into the hillside, up to their bungalow style residences.



Along this hike you pass a Frank Lloyd Wright creation, the Samuel Freeman House. This was the first visit I made to the house where there wasn't a car parked out front. Being a little more darning now, the family explored the front yard & peeked into the narrow windows of the outer walls.



Following the long, narrow, overgrown corridors of foliage and hidden homes we became overwhelmed with the hidden qualities of this neighborhood. There is even a home designed by Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright's son that shares the hillside.



Thanks Mom & Dad for the book! It will bring many great adventures.

Secret Stairs - Alta Loma Terrace

This week the Secret Stairs book took us to a really great new neighborhood



This was an area that has homes w/ no cars allowed. The Hollywood hillside is dotted with homes that you can only access by walking through shady over hanging lanes



There is even an elevator built into the hillside for the 30 some odd homes that make up the Alta Loma Neighborhood.



You may even recognize part of the area from The Long Goodbye.